Just as Middle Eastern carriers are bridging links between Europe and South and South-east Asia, new longhaul services offered by Chinese airlines too are building China up as a major transit hub into Asia.
Beijing and Shanghai especially represent new – and arguably preferred – alternatives to the traditional transit stops like Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong in linking the US and Europe to Asia.
Air China became the first airline to launch a thrice-weekly Shanghai-San Jose service on September 1, bringing the number of China-US routes it operates up to six, the most of any airline worldwide.
Air China, along with other Chinese carriers like China Eastern Airlines as well as Hainan Airlines and its subsidiaries, appear to have succeeded in gaining hub status for China’s airports, including emerging ones in Chengdu and Chongqing, said buyers at PATA Travel Mart.
Hence, while flights from South-east Asia to Taiwan have indeed declined due to its compromised trans-Pacific hub status, business has more than made up for itself through connections to China.
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